Martinsburg daily gazette. [volume] (Martinsburg, W. Va.) 1887-1887, 1887-07-22

FRIDAY, JULY q, 1881.
A NILE A MINUTE.
THE STORY A STRANGER TOLD
AT "A DENVER HOTEL.

A Feat to Which the Records Of Eques-
trianism AFFORD No OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
tary Tobogganing ON . Bronco-A
miraculous Escape from Death.
The grizzled stranger removed a section
Of tobacco from his mouth and began:
This happened five years ago last fall
] was living in Leadville at the time, but
had mining interests that took me fire.
quently into the outlying districts, for o
radius Of perhaps dozen miles. These
trips nearly always made on horseback,
on tough little bronco, hard mouthed,
trained to mountain roads, and capable Of
keeping up Jog trot at pinch for TWEEN
ty hours on stretch. On the occasion in
question started very early one clear.
cold morning for claim owned on the
other side Of the divide, on the slope Of
what is called Gold Mountain you can
find it by looking on any map.
Il took things easy, and it was about
noon when / reached the claim. had q
couple of men at work there, ate dinner
at their cabin, and then went over to look
at the shaft. One has no itlen how rapidly
time passes underground, where every
thing Is dark, and when / came up was
surprised to find That it was nearly 4
o'clock, and the shadows of pimons q
hundred yards of had crawled up.to the
windlass. was annoyed, too, for there
was suggestion of snow in the air, and
the ride across Tennessee park in a storm
is--weIl, the less said about it the better.
So lost no time in getting into the sad
die, and pushed rapidly ahead toward the
pass. / had to go quite a little distance
before reached 1t, and all the time the
sky grew grayer and grayer, and presently
a few flakes began to fall. Iurged the
bronco, and finally began the descent
THE road beyond the pass led down .
long straight incline for about q quarter
Of mile. This took it to the ffingcs Of
timber pine, and then it made detoItr Of
nearly two miles to get around spur Of
the range. AT that point paused The
idea occurred to me that could make
short cut by going directly over the spur
and striking the trail on the other side.
The range was not particularly steep at
this place, but rather succession OF
rough eminences, and the undertaking Gid
not seem to be accompanied BY danger.
al Sudden, raw wind decided me. turned
the bronco of the road and started
1.-THE plan appeared the more feasible as
] advanced. What looked like steep
ascents at distance proved to be gentle
ones, and was soon pretty nearly across.
The spur was well wooded with old pine
trees. remember yet how, between the
tree tops, caught glimpse Of the park
with the Arkansas river winding through
it, and the whole thing looking like some
map III my old geography. That was the
last thing that impressed itself on my
mind before my horse staggered, tumbled,
plunged little, and then came down with
a crash, first ON his fore legs and then flat
on his belly, his head down hill. ! can't
readily describe it, but be fell in such q
way that my right leg, without being
crushed q even much bruised, was twisted
iii the stirrup strap and caught fast.
fright here let rae stop to explain cir
cRmstance that will enable you to under
stand the situation. Down in the valley,
At the base Of Gold mountain, was q saw
mill Owned by George Lacy, of Leadyille,
and extending up from its yard, almost to
timber line, was what is called log shoot.
This il simply a " shaped trough, large
enough to hold good sized pine trunk,
and built solidy against the face Of the
mountain. Cf course, 1t has to be straight,
or nearly SO, to permit the logs to slide
down without obstruction, and use soon
makes the inside as smooth as glass such
contrivance saves q great deal Of haul
ing. for as the trees are cut they are
dragged over and dumped into the trough.